KARACHI: Jamaat-e-Islami held countrywide protests on Friday against the petroleum levy, on the appeal of party chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman, demanding a substantial cut in fuel prices and that petrol be fixed at Rs225 per litre.
In Karachi, demonstrations were organized at 13 locations across different districts as part of the nationwide protest day. Participants carried banners and placards calling for the levy’s abolition and a reduction in fuel prices. A large number of people, particularly youth, joined the peaceful demonstrations by briefly switching off their motorcycles on various roads.
Addressing a protest at Water Pump in Federal B Area, JI Karachi’s acting chief, Muslim Parvez, said the public was being subjected to a continuous financial burden through the heavy petroleum levy imposed on petrol. He said that out of the current petrol price of around Rs297 per liter, nearly Rs80 was being collected under the levy alone, excluding other taxes and charges. He added that JI had also raised the issue in the National Assembly, calling for the levy’s abolition.
Parvez claimed JI was currently the only party speaking out against the levy nationwide. He said the levy’s stated purpose, to reduce debt and fund development projects, was merely a pretext, and that scrapping it could bring petrol prices down to Rs225 per litre.
He further said the Federal Board of Revenue had collected around Rs1.3 trillion during the last financial year, of which Rs650 billion came through direct deductions from salaried individuals, while the ruling elite remained unwilling to curb its own lavish spending. “Today’s protest is meant to draw the rulers’ attention to the oppression being inflicted on the public,” he said, warning the government to come to its senses or risk a public backlash.
Another speaker, Kamran Siraj, said the protest was held against injustice in fuel pricing, adding that Karachi’s deteriorating civic conditions were also plain to see. He pointed to broken roads, a dysfunctional sewerage system, and an ongoing water crisis, saying Hafiz Naeemur Rehman’s demand to bring petrol down to Rs225 per liter reflected public sentiment.
Other speakers at the demonstration included Saeed Amir Musa, deputy chief of Gulberg Central district; Ubaid Ahmed, UC-4 Liaquatabad chairman and local nazim; Khawaja Qamar, UC-6 chairman; and Irfan Shah, UC-5 vice-chairman.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2026